Product packaging having hidden inclined portion for removal of product

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the disclosure provide for a product packaging that includes a sheet of material that has at least one recess in the sheet of material. The one or more recesses are configured to store a product. Namely, the one or more recesses are shaped based on an outline of the product and includes an inclined portion that is configured to slope away from the stored product. When the stored product is pressed to be in contact with the inclined portion, an end of the product extends out from the recess. The extended end may be used to remove the product from the product packaging.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/422,681 filed Nov. 16, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Product packaging is used to hold a product in place for a time before the product is removed for use, but also may be used to present it in an attractive, marketable manner Configurations of product packaging may therefore be determined with one or more of product security, product removal, and aesthetic appeal in mind.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure provide for a product packaging including a sheet of material, at least one recess in the sheet of material configured to store a product, the recess being shaped based on an outline of the product and comprising an inclined portion that is configured to slope away from the stored product, wherein, when the stored product is pressed to be in contact with the inclined portion, an end of the product extends out from the recess.

In one example, the inclined portion of the recess has a length that is less than half of a length of the recess. In another example, the inclined portion of the recess has a constant slope therealong. In a further example, the sheet of material is substantially flat, and the at least one recess is configured to store the product such that 40% or less of the product's height extends from the sheet of material.

In yet another example, the sheet of material comprises a plastic or a foam. In a further example, the product packaging also includes an enclosure configured to encapsulate the sheet of material and hold the sheet of material in place, or a cover configured to fit over the sheet of material.

Other aspects of the disclosure provide for a method of manufacture of a product packaging that includes creating a model of a product, modifying the model to include an inclined portion extending from the model, determining, based on the modified model, dimensions of the product packaging for the product such that the product packaging includes at least one recess configured to store the product, the at least one recess comprising the inclined portion, and forming the product packaging using the determined dimensions so that upon receipt of the product in the incline portion, an end of the product extends out from the recess.

In one example, the model of the product is taken digitally. In another example, the inclined portion has a length that is less than half of a length of the product, and the inclined portion has a constant slope. In a further example, the product packaging is substantially flat and is configured to store the product such that 40% or less of the product extends from the sheet of material.

In yet another example, the product packaging is formed using a 3-D printing system. In a further example, the product packaging is formed by creating a mold based on the determined dimensions for the product packaging, injecting material into the mold to form the product packaging, and removing the product packaging from the mold. In this example, the material is a plastic or a foam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example packaging component and product in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example assembly of a product and a packaging component in a first position in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows another example assembly of a product and a packaging component in a second position in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an example assembly of a product, packaging component, and box in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a further example packaging component and product in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for an example method of manufacture for a packaging component in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

The technology relates to packaging that is designed for easy removal of a product. The product packaging may include a tray having one or more recesses that both holds the product and also provides a means of removing the product. The means of removing the product may not be visible when the product is received in the one or more recesses.

The packaging for a product may include a tray as a packaging component. The tray may comprise a sheet of material that is substantially flat and has at least one recess formed to receive the product. For each recess in the sheet of material, a portion of the recess comprises an incline. When the product is placed in the recess, the incline of the recess is not in contact with the product. When pressure is applied downward on a product placed in the tray directly above or near the inclined portion of the recess, an end of the product passes deeper into the recess to contact the inclined portion while the other end pops up, thereby extending further out of the recess. When the product is inclined along the inclined portion of the recess with an end extending out of the recess, the product may be easily taken out of the tray.

The packaging may be manufactured with use of a mold of the product. A model of the product may be created using the dimensions of the product. The model may then be modified to include an inclined portion extending from the model. The modified model may be used to determine the dimensions of the tray for holding the product. The tray may then be manufactured using the determined dimensions.

In addition, as discussed in detail below, the features described herein allow for various alternatives.

Example Systems

A component of the product packaging is a tray. The tray may comprise a sheet of material that is substantially flat and has at least one recess formed to receive the product. The sheet of material may be made using a semi-rigid material or composite that has enough tolerance, flexibility, and elasticity to deform slightly under pressure but retain its shape after the pressure has been removed. The type of material for the sheet of material may therefore all for the product to be fit into the at least one recess and be held securely and for the product to be removed easily. Examples of materials include folded paper, paperfoam, a plastic, a foam (such as EV foam), or other type of material that fits the aforementioned description. In some examples, the sheet of material may be a block of material having at least one recess cut out from the block of material. The block of material may generally be a rectangular prism, or other solid shape. In other examples, the sheet of material may also be a thin piece of material that is substantially flat and that is shaped to be curved in at least one portion of the thin piece of material to form at least one recess. The sheet of material may alternatively comprise multiple components that are fused together and/or comprise more than one material.

The sheet of material may have a first end and a second end and a generally flat top surface. Each recess in the sheet of material may be shaped based on the outline of the product. Also, the at least one recess may be formed between the first end and the second end of the sheet, with each recess having a first end pointed toward the first end of the sheet and a second end pointed toward the second end of the sheet. The edge of the recess shared with the top surface may be configured to completely hug the outline of the product when the product is received in the recess. There may therefore be little to no gap between the edge of the recess and the product when the product is completely inserted in the recess. Additionally, the edge of the recess may be configured to provide some pressure on the product when the product is in place in order to further secure the product.

At least a portion of the bottom of a recess may be molded to correspond to the shape, such as curves and/or variations or lack thereof, of the end of the product that is to be in contact with the bottom of the recess. Furthermore, recesses of the sheet of material are configured to hold the product relatively level with the sheet of material or slightly extending out from the sheet of material. For example, when the product is stored in a recess, more than half of the product's height, such as about 60% or more, may be in the recess, and less than half of the product's height, such as about 40% or less, may extend out from the sheet of material. Very little, if any, of the product may protrude from the sheet of material. In this way, the tray may store the product more securely and may be able to provide more protection to the product, especially when in transit. In some examples, the entirety of the product may be fit within the recess.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet of material comprising tray 100 is a single block of material 110 that has a recess 120. The single block of material 110 is a rectangular prism having a first end 112, a second end 114, a top surface 116, and a bottom surface 118. Between first end 112 and second end 114 is recess 120. Recess 120 has a first end 122 and a second end 124, and is oriented with the first end pointed towards first end 112 of the block of material and second end 124 pointed towards second end 114 of the block of material. The distance between first end 122 and second end 124 is length 126.

As illustrated, recess 120 is configured to receive a product 210 that is generally a rectangular prism in shape having a top end 212, a bottom end 214, and a height 216. Between top surface 116 of the single block of material and a first depth 130 that is a distance 131 away, recess 120 is shaped generally as a rectangular prism matching the dimensions of the bottom end 214 of the product 210. The edges and sides of recess 120 between top surface 116 and first depth 130 are therefore shaped to fit the bottom end 214 of the product 210 with little to no visible gap between the edges and sides of the recess and the side of the product 210 when the product 210 is received in recess 120. Furthermore, the first depth 130 of recess 120 is at least 60% of the height 216 of the product. Because product 210 has a height of 5 millimeters, and the distance 131 between top surface 116 and first depth 130 of recess 120 is 4 millimeters, or 80% of height 216.

For each recess in the sheet of material, a portion of the recess comprises an incline. The rest of the recess may be a regular holding portion. For the holding portion of the recess, the bottom of the recess may be generally located at a first depth. For the inclined portion of the recess, the bottom of the recess may be generally at an angle in relation to the holding portion of the recess and extend to a second depth deeper in the sheet of material than the first depth. The inclined portion may start at less than halfway the length of the recess from the second end of the recess at an intermediate point and end at or in close proximity of the second end of the recess. Therefore, the inclined portion of the recess may have a length that is less than half the total length of the recess. The length may comprise, for example, a range of 10% and 40% of the total length of the recess.

The inclined portion may be shaped to receive one end of the product at an angle. In some examples, the inclined portion may have a constant slope away from the top surface of the sheet of material starting at the first depth at the intermediate point and ending at the second depth at the second end of the recess. In other examples, the slope of the inclined portion may vary, but on average may be at an angle away from the top surface of the sheet of material. The inclined portion of the recess may be at an angle, or have a constant or average slope, in a range of 10 and 45 degrees away from the top surface of the sheet of material. When the product is placed in the recess, the incline of the recess is not in contact with the product.

In the example of tray 100, the recess 120 includes a holding portion 140 and an inclined portion 150. The inclined portion 150 may have a first end 152 at an intermediate point between first end 122 and second end 124 of the recess, and have a second end 154 that coincides with the second end 124 of the recess. The distance from first end 152 of the inclined portion and second end 154 is a length 146, which is less than half of length 126. For example, length 156 may be 40% of length 126. In tray 100, length 126 is 100 millimeters, and length 156 is 40 millimeters. The inclined portion 150 is angled deeper from depth 130 at an angle 158. The inclined portion 150 therefore has a constant slope at angle 158. As a result, inclined portion 150 starts at first end 152 at first depth 130 and ends at second end 154 at a second depth 160. Angle 158 of inclined portion 150 is 15 degrees, and results in an additional depth of about 10 millimeters from the first depth 130. Second depth 160 is therefore a distance 161 of about 15 millimeters from the top surface 116 of the block of material.

As shown in FIG. 2, when a product 210 is received in recess 120, the side of the product fills recess 120 up to the first depth 130, and is not in contact with inclined portion 150. There is therefore a gap between the inclined portion 150 and the product, the largest gap being at the second end 124 of the recess spanning the distance 161 between first depth 130 and second depth 161.

When product is pushed downward directly above or nearly directly above the location of the inclined portion of the recess, an end of the product passes deeper into the recess into a position where a portion of the bottom end of the product contacts the inclined portion of the recess. The product therefore may operate as a lever rotating about a fulcrum at the intermediate point where the inclined portion of the recess begins. In this position, the other end of the product may be lifted a distance out of contact with the recess and/or out of the recess. The distance the other end of the product is lifted out of the recess may allow room for a finger, and the product may be easily taken out of the tray.

As shown in FIG. 3, product 210 is pushed in the direction of arrow 300 directly above the inclined portion 150 of the recess so that product 210 comes in contact with the inclined portion 150. The product 210 is then in an angled position with one end proximal to second end 125/154 deeper within the recess and the other end extending a distance 310 away from the bottom of the recess. In this way, product 210 operates as a lever with a fulcrum at first end 152 of the inclined portion 150. A finger may be inserted between product 210 and recess 120 at first end 122 of the recess to remove the product 210.

The product packaging may also comprise other packaging components in addition to the tray. For example, the product packaging may also include a box or other enclosure that encapsulates the tray. As shown in FIG. 4, assembly 200 of the tray 110 and product 210 is inserted in box 410 to further store the product. The enclosure may be configured to hold the tray in place when the tray is placed within the enclosure using other means known in the industry. The product packaging may alternatively include a cover that is fitted over the tray. The box, enclosure, or cover may comprise a transparent material so that the product in the tray is visible when the tray is encapsulated or covered. Rectangular section 420 of box 410 is a transparent plastic to display a portion of product 210 when assembly 200 is inserted in box 410.

In another example, the product may be an irregularly shaped product. As shown in FIG. 5, tray 510 may be configured to store product 520, which may be an earphone or any other type of product. Product 520 is an irregular shape with varying heights with a bottom end 522. Tray 510 has a first end 512 and a second end 514. Between first end 512 and second end 514 is recess 530. Recess 530 has a first end 532 pointed towards first end 512 of the tray and second end 534 pointed towards second end 514 of the tray. As illustrated, recess 530 varies in depth to correspond to the variation in height of product 520.

Inclined portion 540 of recess 530 spans between second end 534 and intermediate point 536. In this example, the distance between second end 534 and intermediate 536 is about 20% of the total length of recess 530 between first end 532 and second end 534. The slope of inclined portion 540 is on average 20 degrees, though at a given point of the inclined portion 540, the slope may vary to correspond with the shape of an end of product 520 that fits in the recess directly over the inclined portion 540.

When placed in recess 530, 40% of the height of product 520 protrudes from the flat, top surface of tray 530. Product 520 is in full contact with the bottom of the recess 530, except for the inclined portion 540, when received by the recess 530. To remove product 520 from tray 510, the end of the product 520 over inclined portion 534 may be pressed down to cause that end of the product 520 to come in contact with the inclined portion 534. As a result, product 520 acts as a lever with a fulcrum at intermediate point 536 and lifts the end of product 520 by first end 532 up out of tray 510. The lifted end of product 520 may be gripped, and product 520 may be taken out of tray 510.

In some alternatives, there may be more than one inclined portion of the recess such that the product may be removed from the product packaging using any one of the more than one inclined portions of the recess. Portions of of or an entirety of the perimeter of the recess may comprise inclined portions.

Example Methods

The packaging may be manufactured based on dimensions of the product. FIG. 6 is an example flow diagram 600 related to manufacture of a packaging with characteristics in accordance with some aspects of described above that may be performed by one or more computing devices. The features described may be implemented by any of a variety of systems having different configurations. In addition, the operations involved in the methods need not be performed in the precise order described. Rather, various operations may be handled in a different order or simultaneously, and operations may be added or omitted.

At block 602, a model of the product may be created using the dimensions of the product. In some examples, the model may be created using the one or more processors by scanning or otherwise digitally measuring the dimensions of the product. The model may then be modified to include an inclined portion extending from the model at block 620. Then at block 630, the modified model may be used to determine the dimensions of the tray for holding the product. For example, a mold of the modified model may be taken and the dimensions for the tray may be determined to receive at least a portion of the dimensions of the mold of the modified model. At least one recess, therefore, may be determined to be part of the tray, the at least one recess having the same dimensions as the portion of the mold of the modified model to be received in the tray. The tray may be made based on the determined dimensions at block 640. Making the tray may involve creating a mold for the tray using the determined dimensions and inserting or injecting a material into the mold, or using any method known to those of skill in the art. The material for the tray may be a semi-rigid material or composite that has enough tolerance, flexibility, and elasticity to deform slightly under pressure but retain its shape after the pressure has been removed, such as, for example, folded paper, paperfoam, a plastic, or a foam (such as EV foam). 3-D printing may also be used to manufacture the tray by directly printing the tray using the determined dimensions without a need for a mold of the tray.

In some examples, the dimensions of the at least one recess may be smaller than or larger than the dimensions of the mold of the modified model. When the material for the tray is more flexible, dimensions of the at least one recess may be smaller so the material may expand when the product is received in the at least one recess, providing a more secure hold on the product. When the material of the tray is less flexible, the dimensions of the at least one recess may be larger to ensure that the product may fit in the at least one recess.

Additionally or alternatively, the material of the tray may be customized based on the material of the product to prevent scratching or other types of damage to the product when received and/or retrieved from the at least one recess.

The features described above allow for a product packaging to include a means to remove the product from the packaging without any additional parts or post-processing required. The product packaging may be, as a result, cheaper to manufacture. The product may be held better by the product packaging and also may be easier to remove from the product packaging. In addition, the product packaging may function as a means for displaying the product. The look of the product packaging with the features described above may cosmetically appeal to people who view the packaging and the product.

Unless otherwise stated, the foregoing alternative examples are not mutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various combinations to achieve unique advantages. As these and other variations and combinations of the features discussed above can be utilized without departing from the subject matter defined by the claims, the foregoing description of the embodiments should be taken by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation of the subject matter defined by the claims. In addition, the provision of the examples described herein, as well as clauses phrased as “such as,” “including” and the like, should not be interpreted as limiting the subject matter of the claims to the specific examples; rather, the examples are intended to illustrate only one of many possible embodiments. Further, the same reference numbers in different drawings can identify the same or similar elements. 

1. A product packaging for an intended product, the product packaging comprising: a sheet of material including a top surface and at least one recess, wherein the at least one recess includes a first surface at a first depth that is a first distance from the top surface, a second depth that is a second distance from the top surface that is greater than the first distance, and an inclined portion that extends between the first surface at the first depth and the second depth, wherein the first depth is less than a depth of the intended product, wherein a distance between the second depth and the first depth is greater than the first distance, and wherein the recess is shaped based on the first depth, the second depth, the inclined portion, and the intended product.
 2. The product packaging of claim 1, wherein the inclined portion of the recess has a length that is less than half of a length of the recess.
 3. The product packaging of claim 1, wherein the inclined portion of the recess has a constant slope therealong.
 4. The product packaging of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the sheet of material is planar.
 5. The product packaging of claim 1, wherein the sheet of material comprises a plastic or a foam.
 6. The product packaging of claim 1, further comprising: an enclosure configured to encapsulate the sheet of material and hold the sheet of material in place; or a cover configured to fit over the sheet of material. 7-13. (canceled)
 14. The product packaging of claim 1, wherein the distance between the second depth and the first depth is at least twice the first distance. 